


To Smell

by enthusiasmgirl



Series: The Five Senses [4]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3903601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enthusiasmgirl/pseuds/enthusiasmgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A particularly pleasant smell could send Matt spiralling towards something unexpected, but the world tends to be full of more bad smells than good ones, unfortunately for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spanish 101

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fourth in my series of stories exploring the sensory world of Matt Murdock. Again, they do not need to be read in order.
> 
> Foggy makes an appearance in all three of these stories! I couldn't help myself, I just love their friendship so damned much. Avocados at law! *sniffs away a tear*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Matt ended up in Spanish 101.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the story of that Greek girl who Matt took Spanish to be closer to. Yes, she is Elektra. This story is not a spoiler for a future season of Daredevil (at least not yet), will likely be made non-canon by the show at some point (I'm hoping) and requires exactly zero knowledge of the comics or 2003 movie or who Elektra is to enjoy. It's just a fun detail I included because why not.

"... so I told him, 'Screw you, buddy!', took my cash back off the counter and got the hell out of there!'" Foggy said, gesturing wildly with him arms as he and Matt walked down the crowded hallway. He got no response. "Matt? Are you even listening to me?"

"Sure," said Matt, but his head was turned in the opposite direction. If Foggy didn't know any better, he'd swear Matt was staring at someone.

"Okay, so what was I saying?" Foggy asked.

"You were complaining about the guy who works at Los Burritos Grandes who you're convinced always shorts you on guacamole because he doesn't like you," said Matt.

"I was," said Foggy, "But I still feel like you weren't listening."

Matt's attention was long gone. "Right. I gotta go. I'll catch up with you later?" Matt asked. He wandered off into the crowd, cane tapping in front of him, before Foggy could even reply.

"How are you that fast?" said Foggy to thin air as Matt faded from sight, "you stealthy bastard. Okay," he yelled in Matt's direction. "We have class together, but I'll see you later, I guess!"

Matt couldn't help it. He really couldn't. The moment he smelled her, it was as though all of his other senses shut down. There was only her. She smelled fresh like the ocean, but with a slight hint of lemon, mint and spice, fragrant and enticing. He'd never smelled anyone like her. It was doing something to him that he couldn't describe.

So he followed her as quickly as he could, his cane barely touching the floor to keep up appearances as his other senses took over and guided him. People gave him a wide berth when they saw him coming with his cane, but he was moving so fast that he still occasionally bumped into someone, earning a "Watch where you're going!" or "What the hell?" aimed in his direction. Normally it would have bothered him, but in the moment he barely noticed.

Finally, he followed the scent through an open door, down the lecture hall steps, and to a chair. "Hello," he said with a smile as he sat down, breathing deeply to take in the scent he had been chasing.

The young woman woman didn't seem as startled by his sudden appearance next to her as Matt had expected her to be. "Hello," she said, her voice rich, music to Matt's ears. It had a deep bass tone with a hint of a rasp underneath, and the accent was European. "Nice of you to follow me in here," she said.

This surprised Matt. "I didn't..." he stuttered.

"Yes, you did," the woman said. "But that's okay. It's a bold move. I like it."

"Well, I couldn't help it," Matt said. "I just noticed you and knew I needed to meet you."

"Noticed me?" she asked. "I would think that would be difficult for you, especially in such a crowded hallway. What is it you noticed exactly?"

Matt found himself suddenly at a loss. Why had he said that? How could he possibly explain to her how he had noticed her without being able to see her? It was as though the woman had shut down the logical part of his brain that would normally tell him that this was a bad idea. After a moment of gaping at the woman like a fish drowning on land, he finally decided that this was a time when maybe honesty might be his best option.

"It was the way you smelled," he said cautiously.

"The way I smelled?" the woman asked. "And how do I smell exactly, that a blind man would be so entranced by me?"

"Exotic," Matt replied. "Like an adventure on the horizon."

The woman laughed. It was a heady, throaty laugh that came deep from inside her and felt like a spell being cast, pulling Matt further away from himself and towards her and only her.

And then, the woman put her hand on his shoulder, leaned in towards him, and smelled his hair. She pressed her head into the crook of his neck and breathed in from behind his ear. He could feel her breath tickling his hairline. It was like time stopped for a moment and they were the only two people in the room. He could hear his own heartbeat pick up and begin to race the moment she touched him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fair's fair," she said, amused. "I'm smelling you."

"And what do I smell like?" he said.

"Like trouble," she replied. "Big trouble. What's your name?"

"Matthew," he said. "And yours?"

"Elektra," she replied. "Welcome to Spanish 101, Matthew," she said with a giggle.

The world faded back in as she moved away and the Professor at the front of the classroom began to speak but she grabbed his hand across the desk. As Matt felt her hand in his, he realized that he was going to have to transfer classes. How was he ever going to explain this to Foggy?


	2. Landman and Zach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took Foggy a little while to agree with Matt that Landman and Zach wasn't the place for them. Matt, however, knew from the moment he walked in the doors.

Matt knew that Foggy was excited. In the beginning he was excited too, if he was being honest. They had gotten an internship together, and it was for one of the biggest law firms in the city. Even if he had reservations about it, he couldn't be unhappy. And Foggy was right to remind him that there were students in their graduating class who would have gleefully murdered them for taking their spot at Landman and Zach.

But the moment Matt walked through the heavy revolving doors and into the expansive lobby he knew that they'd made a mistake.

It wasn't the coldness of all the steel and glass that Foggy loved so much, the way that it echoed and bounced off his heightened senses like he was in a snowstorm. And it wasn't the phones ringing off the hook or the rush of clacking keyboards he could hear pounding into his ears like a jackhammer. No, it was the smell that set him off.

He had been expecting it to smell sterile, perhaps, like a dentist's office or the DMV. Maybe leathery and rich, like a courtroom. Instead, it just smelled disgusting. Like stale cologne and Axe bodyspray. Like too much make-up, and women not wearing underwear. Like expensive lattes, tears and anxiety. Within seconds of entering the building, Matt was convinced that he had learned everything he needed to know about the place and it was all he could stand not to turn around and go back through the door onto the street where he could breathe deeply without wanting to vomit.

"Wow," said Foggy. "Isn't this place amazing?" Matt could tell his friend was grinning.

"Yeah," he replied, with a weary resignation, "amazing." He followed his friend towards the front desk.

Once they were settled for the day into the shared closet where they would be working, Matt leaned back and tried to meditate quietly as Foggy unpacked his things. He tried to block out the smells and sounds around him and centre himself. It didn't help.

"Is this really what you want?" he asked Foggy finally.

"What do you mean?" Foggy asked. "Dude, this is the dream! Think about how much money we could make in a place like this."

"I thought you agreed that what we do is about more than money," Matt said.

"Well yeah, but come on!" Foggy said emphatically, "Come on! This is awesome!"

"Maybe," said Matt, unconvinced.

In the days to come, the smells continued to get to Matt. The people who worked at Landman and Zach frequently smelled of desperation. Matt had smelled desperation before. After all, he lived in a neighborhood that stank of poverty and homelessness, disease and prostitution. But this particular desperation was tinged with depression, and alcoholism, and loneliness. It matched the sounds he heard on a daily basis. Sobbing coming from the bathrooms. People being fired. The still constant ringing and clacking, and the phone conversations in which people told their loved ones "I'm sorry, I know I said I'd be home for dinner. I have to work." It bothered him, but he knew that it meant something to Foggy to stay and complete the internship, so he bore it, like he bore so many things for the sake of his friend.

Weeks went by. The internship was almost finished when Matt encountered one last horrible smell, one that broke his heart. It was then that he knew it was time to move on, that he had to say something to Foggy. It was the smell of a dying man.

Matt sat next to Foggy across the table from the man whom their firm was opposing, a man with unnatural and poisonous chemicals coursing through his bloodstream attempting to flush out the cancer eating away at his organs. Matt could smell the chemotherapy, and he could smell the cancer. The man didn't have long. And he listened, trying to hold the nausea at bay, while the attorneys at the firm he worked for told that man that they were suing him for a breach of patent law. They revealed, in a calm and patient tone and with none of the anxiety or frustration that Matt usually detected from them, that they were that petty, and that cold. Matt realized in that moment that the desperation he smelled at Landman and Zach was one that was borne out of a desire for power and money, and that the people around him couldn't sense the destruction the path they were on was leading them towards the way that he could. And he knew that he needed to get out, and that he wasn't leaving without Foggy. He also knew that if this is what other law firms were like, the two of them would need to forge their own path.

Sometimes later, when he and Foggy were up until 4am sitting across from one another at one desk while Karen made them their tenth cup of coffee each, in their cramped office that smelled like stale donuts, dust and sweat, Matt would reflect on his time at Landman and Zach and the decision he and Foggy made to leave. He never regretted it.


	3. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As painful as it was at the time to have to feel so exposed, in the long run Matt's glad that he can finally be honest with Foggy, and Foggy's glad that he can finally understand what Matt's going through.

Matt smelled him well before he heard him. Usually, he looked forward to hearing a happily whistled tune in the morning as Foggy made his way up the stairwell, the melody echoing off of the cement and linoleum. Today, though, there was a definite smell first. Matt hated it when this happened.

The other sounds were normal. The sound of his friend opening the office door with his ass as he balanced his briefcase and two coffees (mercifully not made by Karen) in his hands. The thump of his briefcase hitting his office floor. But the smell was unpleasant. Even the strong, bitter scent of the coffee couldn't overpower it.

Normally, Matt would never even have considered saying anything. Normally, he would have had no way to articulate his problem. But things weren't normal between he and Foggy now. Not since their fight. Not since Foggy learned the truth about who Matt really was. Sure, they'd set their differences aside and worked together to finally take down Fisk. Foggy even seemed to embrace the idea of Daredevil as a symbol, as a hero. But then, Matt knew that Daredevil was never really the problem.

"Hey, buddy," said Foggy as he stepped into Matt's office and leaned against the doorframe, putting the second coffee on Matt's desk. Matt could sense how forced the interaction really was and it pained him. "Late night out Daredeviling?" Foggy asked.

"Daredeviling isn't a verb," said Matt, "And thank you for the coffee. Do you need something?"

"What?" Foggy said, offended. "No, I don't need something. What, I can't bring you your coffee in the morning anymore? Ask you about your life?"

"Of course you can, I just..." Matt stopped, not wanting to hurt Foggy's feelings.

"What?" asked Foggy. "You're making a face. Did something happen? You promised to be honest with me. What's going on?" Matt could hear the accusation and fear in Foggy's voice. He hated that his friend was so quick to assume the worst of him.

"I just can't handle the smell coming off of your right now, that's all," Matt said firmly. "Honestly, Foggy! Did you order lox from the deli this morning or did you get here by way of a salmon cannon?"

"Oh," said Foggy, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," said Matt. "You said you wanted honesty. That's honesty."

"But I eat at the 2nd Avenue deli all the time," said Foggy, confused. "I love that place."

"Yeah," said Matt. "You do."

"So it always bothered you?" Foggy asked.

"I learned to live with it," Matt said. "It's just a bit overpowering, that's all."

"What else?" Foggy asked, anger in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, unsure what Foggy was asking him.

"What else have you just put up with all these years without telling me? What else have you learned to live with?" Foggy asked. "We were roommates for seven years, Matt! Seven years! And I know I was annoying. I am a very annoying person. Add your super senses and obvious urge to beat on things to that and I'm surprised I'm still alive, really."

"I'm not doing this," said Matt.

"What? Come on!" Foggy said. "You're right. I asked for honesty. So lay it on me, man! Give me everything you've got, I can take it! I'll even start just to show you that two can play at this game. I hate the fact that you always want to do things the most expensive way possible. You refuse to take the subway. You overtip waitresses. You wear fancier clothes than me, and you're incredibly picky about things that a normal person would just let go. You make me look and feel cheap, which I don't think that I am. Damn, that felt good! You should try it!"

Foggy was on a roll and decided not to stop. "Let's see here... Let me think... oh!" he said, "the attitude you take about the food I eat. I hate that. I can't eat a bag of Doritos without getting a lecture from you like you think you're better than me."

"Yeah, well those Doritos smell like a couple of dozen different chemicals," said Matt. "It's disgusting. There's not a thing in them that should technically be allowed to qualify as food. Not to mention the fact that between the way you eat with your mouth open and the fact that the bags they come in sound like two buses colliding on a highway every time you move them, I'm surprised my eardrums have never ruptured. I never told you, but I know of at least one occasion where you must have eaten a bag of them in my bed in college because I could feel the crumbs and powder on my pillow afterwards. I had to wash all my bedding. Twice! And do you know how hard it is to find somewhere to hang dry bedding on a college campus?"

"Oh my God, what is up with that anyway?" asked Foggy, yelling. "You can't just use a dryer like a normal person? We used to have wet clothing hanging over every surface of our room. Whenever anyone came over I'd have to explain why I had your underwear flung over the back of my chair! It was embarrassing"

"What do you want me to say, Foggy?" Matt asked, "I'm sorry that the static electricity and the heat from a dryer irritates my skin?"

"Wait, what?" asked Foggy. "Is that seriously why?"

"Well, yeah," Matt said sadly. He was surprised when Foggy's anger seemed to melt away.

"That kinda sucks," Foggy said.

"I don't know," said Matt, "I'm used to it now."

"You're used to it?" Foggy asked. "Like you're used to me smelling like a river when I eat at the deli? And you're used to being kept up at night by the sound of criminals and sirens? How the hell do you get used to something like that?"

"You just do," said Matt. "It's not like I ever had a choice."

"No," said Foggy. "I guess not. Wait... all that other stuff that I said bugged me, is that all related to the whole world on fire thing too?"

"I take cabs instead of the subway because the smells and noise of the subway are too much for me. And it's difficult for me to know when to request a stop on the bus." Matt confessed. "I dress nicely because cheaper clothing feels like sandpaper against my skin, and if it doesn't fit right it's distracting to the point of madness. I hate it because it means I pay a small fortune to tailors and dry cleaners, but it's preferable to the alternative. The overtipping I do just to be nice, though. You know they don't earn a minimum wage, right?"

"Okay," Foggy said, "What else?" This time when he asked it, the anger was gone. Matt could tell that it was replaced by a genuine desire to understand.

So Matt told Foggy everything. Really everything. All the things in the world that he bore with resignation and good humour, and all the ways that his friend could help if he wanted to. And Foggy listened. Really listened. And afterwards, if Matt noticed that Foggy brushed his teeth in the bathroom sink some mornings when he came into the office, if he noticed the lack of spicy food Foggy ate at his desk, or the way that both Foggy and Karen let Matt fall asleep at his desk and didn't wake him, well he refused to feel bad about it. Because it meant that not only were he and Foggy going back to normal, things were maybe even better than normal. Because Matt was finally being honest.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Tumblr. It can be found at: http://enthusiasmgirl.tumblr.com. I have many opinions about Daredevil and Marvel stuff, in addition to other things (although not so much with the other things lately).


End file.
